In the Indian Ocean this has resulted, since the 1960s, in substantial decreases in sea levels in the south tropical region, including the Seychelles Islands and the island of Zanzibar off Tanzania.

In contrast, sea level rises have been much higher along the coastlines of the Bay of Bengal, the Arabian Sea, Sri Lanka and the Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Java.

In a study published this week in the journal Nature Geoscience, which could have implications for how scientists predict sea level changes, the authors blame complex atmospheric wind patterns for the uneven rises.

'Complex circulation patterns in the Indian Ocean may also affect precipitation by forcing even more atmospheric air than normal down to the surface in Indian Ocean subtropical regions,' says co-author Weiqing Han.

'This may favor a weakening of atmospheric convection in subtropics, which may increase rainfall in the eastern tropical regions of the Indian Ocean and drought in the western equatorial Indian Ocean region, including east Africa.'

INVESTIGATIONThe world's first environmental refugeesThe disappearance of Lohachara beneath the waters of the Bay of Bengal created the world’s first environmental refugees. Dan McDougall reports on other islanders in the Sundarbans delta who have no escape from the rising ocean. Photography by Robin Hammond

INVESTIGATIONThe first climate evacuation: what have we learned?Earlier this year, journalist Dan Box won recognition from environmentalist George Monbiot for documenting the world's first climate change evacuation, of the Carteret islands in the South Pacific. Now, he returns to his experiences to ask if this is the first evacuation of many, how should we do it in future?

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